This application relates to techniques, methods, and systems related to preparation of liquid fuels from hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide generated from organic feed stocks or other industrial emissions.
Anaerobic digestion of organic substances generally produces hydrocarbon, such as methane, and carbon dioxide. Based on scientific research, methane and carbon dioxide are both greenhouse gases that may cause global warming. It is advantageous to find a way to transform these gases into usable engineered fuels because this not only enhances the energy efficiency but also alleviates the global warming problem. For example, the ethanol production plants generate a considerable amount of carbon dioxide emission through their fermentation process. There is a pressing need to find useful applications of such carbon dioxide because it represents a large energy investment to grow and transport the grain or other fermented feedstock. Similarly it is important to provide practical ways to reduce their carbon dioxide emission, either for the existing ethanol plants or those to be built in the future.
Storage and transportation of gaseous fuels, e.g., hydrogen, are complicated and expensive practices because the system generally needs to be pressurized or super-cooled to −421° F. Therefore, there is a need to precondition these kinds of gaseous fuels and transform them into a form (such as, liquid at ambient temperature) that can be stored and transported more efficiently. Having an efficient on-site fuel precondition system that can transform hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide into liquid fuels is valuable because it reduces the cost to store and transport gaseous fuels and also controls the emission of hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide by transforming them into usable renewable energy.
Like reference symbols and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.